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Down but not out: Mimbres community rallies to save commodities program

By Peggy Platonos for the Sun-News

Posted:
06/10/2013 05:51:33 PM MDT

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For the past 11 years, the Rio Mimbres Baptist Church fellowship hall, shown here in May, has served as the distribution point for the Mimbres Valley commodities program, which serves as many as 200 needy families. Action by the Roadrunner Food Bank forced local organizers to find a new distribution site. Starting this Wednesday, commodities will be distributed from the Mimbres Roundup Lodge.

MIMBRES VALLEY — Quick and cooperative action has saved the Mimbres Valley's food commodities program and free food will continue to be distributed to nearly 200 needy families in the Mimbres Valley without interruption - but at a new location and a new time.

Food will now be distributed from the Mimbres Valley Roundup Lodge, instead of from the Rio Mimbres Baptist Church, which served as the commodities distribution site for 11 years and was the sponsoring agency for the program.

Food distribution will still take place on the second Wednesday of each month, but the hours will now be noon to 2 p.m. instead of 1 to 3 p.m.

The change in distribution site became necessary after Roadrunner Food Bank's new community relations manager, Valerie Torrez, made a surprise visit to the Rio Mimbres Baptist Church on April 24 and cited them for violations of the USDA The Emergency Food Assistance Program in a letter dated May 7.

The letter stated "effective immediately, Rio Mimbres Baptist Church has been inactivated as an affiliated partner agency of Roadrunner Food Bank," and went on to say that all food orders placed by Rio Mimbres Baptist Church had been canceled.

The letter arrived via email the night before the May 8 distribution date.

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After confirming that the delivery expected on that day had been canceled, organizers emptied the large storage and freezer units provided for commodities by the church, and volunteers filled boxes with what was on hand so there would be no interruption of commodities distribution that day. Senator Howie Morales was contacted and he in turn contacted U.S. Senator Tom Udall's office to ask for assistance in resolving the issue. In an email to Sen. Udall's office, Sen. Morales wrote that he asked if there was opportunity to have infractions corrected rather than abruptly ceasing the program and was told that Roadrunner CEO Melody Wattenbarger had made the decision to end distribution.

ÊWith the immediate crisis past, members of the Mimbres Valley Health Action League - the community organization that helped organize the Valley's commodities program - stepped up and tried to negotiate a solution with Roadrunner. The result was a compromise: Roadrunner would approve a Mobile Food Pantry program for the Valley, which would bring a single monthly delivery instead of weekly deliveries as they previously had. The food would be distributed immediately. None would be stored. The selection of food would be left up to Roadrunner, with no ordering by local organizers. Roadrunner would provide approximately 50 pounds of food per family.

Although Mobile Food Pantry items normally cost the sponsoring agency six cents per pound, Wattenbarger promised that only USDA food supplied free by the federal government would be included in the delivery and therefore there would be no charge to the sponsoring agency.

Roadrunner officials agreed that the Rio Mimbres Baptist Church could continue to be the distribution site, but stipulated that the distribution tables would have to be set up in the church's parking lot instead of in the building. The church declined.

"All our people in the church who volunteer to help with commodities are senior citizens," explained Donnie Forman, who, as head of Local Ministries at the church, had been serving as commodities coordinator. "We can't have them working out in the hot sun in summer or in the cold during winter."

The Roundup Lodge was selected as an alternative location, and Booster Club members approved its use as commodities distribution site. According to Sonny Johnson, vice president for the Mimbres Valley Health Action League board, Roadrunner would allow the packing of food boxes to take place inside the Lodge.

"I would have to say that the Lodge cannot provide quite as good a set-up as the church did, but it's the next best site available in the Valley, and the important thing is to keep commodities available for our needy neighbors," said long-time Booster Club member Paula Norero, who has been involved in the Mimbres Valley commodities program from its start, handling the paperwork and sign-in procedure every month.

With a new distribution site secured and written confirmation received that there would be no charge to the sponsoring agency, the Health Action League agreed to serve as sponsor for the program.

"It is unfortunate that this change has had to occur at all," Johnson said. "What I am most concerned with is that the people in our community continue to get the support they need."

Roadrunner communications officer Sonya Warwick would not comment on the violations, saying Roadrunner's policy is "not to share information about partner agencies," and that information would have to be provided by the partner agency.

Donnie Forman, commodities coordinator at the church, said the violations were: a bag of potatoes that were not going to be distributed sitting on concrete in the church pump house, the transfer of frozen food in a non-refrigerated vehicle from a broken-down freezer at the church to a locked commercial freezer at a local store, and the repackaging of pre-cooked frozen pork patties.

"Those potatoes weren't fit to eat," Forman explained. "They were just eyes, bound for the garbage. And they were only saved because someone said a local gardener might want to plant them."

"As far as transferring frozen food off-site, nobody around here has a refrigerated truck, and you have to do something when a freezer breaks down to save the food," she continued. "I called Roadrunner in Las Cruces to inform them of the situation and never heard back. So we didn't wait. We drove the food four miles and put it in a commercial freezer."

As for repackaging the pork patties, Forman said, "They sent us large packages with 144 pork patties in each. We needed to make smaller packages so they would go further. So I bought freezer bags, used gloves and repackaged them in the church kitchen. Got four bags out of each big bag."

In a written response to the citations, Mimbres Valley resident Gene Stailey wrote: "It appears to me that the two-word phrase "common sense' is obsolete."

He went on to point out Forman's long food service experience, which includes years of providing meals for hundreds of firefighters at a time during forest fires. "When you are complying with the U.S. Forest Service's standards (and they are many), you have to know what you are doing," he wrote. "Knowing what I know about Donnie Forman and the way she handles food using all ways of preventing spoilage, contamination, using gloves, etc., I strongly resent the way this situation was handled."

Forman has pledged to help with the new commodities arrangement in any way she can.

"The main thing is that the people get the food," she said. "That's what matters."

In a formal announcement of the change in commodities organization in the Mimbres Valley, the Mimbres Valley Health Action League Board of Directors acknowledged the community's debt to the Rio Mimbres Baptist Church in connection with the commodities program.

"The overall commitment of members of the church, especially Donnie Forman, has been invaluable. We look forward to working with volunteers from the church, and the community, for the continued goal of helping our neighbors."

In an email to the Sun-News, Sen. Udall wrote: "In Grant County, there are more than 5,000 children who still don't get enough to eat and seniors who have no other way to get to the grocery store. I'm pleased that the Mimbres Valley Health Action League and Roadrunner Food Bank came together quickly to develop a plan to continue to meet this need. I've also instructed my staff in New Mexico to continue working with Roadrunner Food Bank and the Grant County community to ensure there are no gaps in services."

What: Mimbres Valley Food Commodities Distribution

When: Noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday (each second Wednesday of the month)

Where: New location at the Mimbres Valley Round Up Lodge

Peggy Platonos is a freelance writer who lives in the Mimbres Valley. She welcomes feedback and story ideas at platonos@gilanet.com